


Martial Arts AU

by followmetoyourdoom



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: F/M, Modern AU, strange magic au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-02 04:05:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4045252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/followmetoyourdoom/pseuds/followmetoyourdoom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Strange Magic Modern AU that focus on Marianne kicking ass as an aikido instructor and Bog becoming one of her students, but there's more to him that meets the eye.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Chou Gen'ya Dojo

It was a Friday afternoon after class and as she was folding and putting away her hamaka, that he first walked into the Chou Gen'ya Dojo, the dojo opened by her aunt way back in the 70's. Now it was owned by her father, someone who, unfortunately, had no interest in preserving the cultural heritage of martial arts. Thankfully, he allowed his eldest daughter, Marianne, to train there and teach others the art of aikido, so long as the place made enough money to keep it running. That was the deal.

The martial art of aikido itself was often forgotten in favour of other well known martial arts such as Judo, Karate, Kung Fu, etc… This was mainly because it was seen to be weaker than the others, just because there was more emphasis on being flexible rather than strong, quick witted rather than quick actioned. It used the opponent's weight and strength against them and Marianne had loved the art as soon as her aunt had introduced her to it when she was a young child.

Potential students would often visit to watch her class train and either leave or inquire once the lesson had finished about taking the class themselves, though most were immediately put off by the high price her father had set. It was a shame really, Marianne would often muse to herself, right now her only students were her younger sister, Dawn, and said sister's best friend, Sunny. It was great for Dawn, not so great for Sunny who was the only paying customer. Because of this Marianne would often under-charged him, despite his insistence that he could pay the full fee.

A cough and a knock on the wood panels made Marianne turn around, a look of surprise on her face as she surveyed the visitor. He was a tall, lanky man, with hair so dark she could have sworn it was black if not for the black leather jacket he wore to compare it with. His face was... interesting, the long nose and chin bringing out a certain fierceness while the blue eyes lent a more inquisitive and gentle nature to his expression.

All this Marianne took note of in a matter of seconds. In her eyes, he did not look like someone who would benefit from learning aikido, but she wasn't about to pass up a customer.

"Can I help you?"

The man looked at her for a few seconds before answering, "I was just, um, passin' by an' noticed yer sign." A quick hand gesture towards the entrance behind him. "An' I was wonderin', when do ye train?" He had a noticeable Scottish accent, but mixed in with a few others she couldn't quite make out.

"Every weekday, from four till now, but sometimes it drags on till six." She shrugged, it had been a long time since there were enough students to warrant longer classes, but she herself sometimes stayed behind to take advantage of the empty dojo.

The man's only answer was to nod slightly and look around, taking in the tiny establishment with its low ceilings which would no doubt result in him hitting his head, should he chose to train there. He then picked up one of the outdated business cards from the welcome table and began walking towards the door.

"Hang on, wait a sec," Marianne called out, jogging up the steps to the entrance, "That's my old number, I changed it a while back because of this…" She trailed off, there was no reason to tell the man about that douchebag, "Anyway, let me give you my new one."

She plucked the card out of his hand and picked up a pen from the table to correct it, handing it back to him once she had. "Um thanks," he mumbled taking it from her, "Yoo'll be th' instructur then I gaither?"

"Yep, youngest female instructor in the state of New York," she said proudly.

"Impressive," he lifted the card up in goodbye and smiled, "I might pop round next week ter see what yer made of." And with that he ducked his head through the door and left.

What the hell had he meant by that? He hadn't seemed to be talking down to her, and his tone wasn't sarcastic. Was someone finally genuinely interested in taking her class? He hadn't even seemed put off by the price which she had written next to her number, the amount almost double what it had been when the cards were first printed.

There was no point thinking about that now though, Marianne firmly told herself, either he would turn up for practise on Monday or he wouldn't.

Simple.

A call from the changing rooms made it very clear that it wasn't all that simple, "Marianne? Who was that?"

"Just some guy interesting in taking classes, Dawn."

"Oooo," Marianne could tell from her sister's voice that she was grinning, "Was he cute?"

Marianne pondered this for a few seconds, "I don’t know…" she answered honestly.

"Pfff, trust you not to notice." Dawn skipped out of the changing rooms, wearing a knee length flowery dress and with her hair freshly done up in a fancy bun. "Anyway, ready to go?"

"In a sec. And I did notice, I just didn't care." The young instructor walked back over to her sports bag, took out a change of clothes and went into the changing room her sister had just come out of.

A few minutes later she was dressed in her usual black leggings and mid-thigh length t-shirt, and picking up her boots from the tray near the door. Dawn already had her bag on her shoulder and her shoes on and was bouncing about while her older sister slipped her own on.

Sighing at her impatience, Marianne tossed her sister the car keys, "Go wait in the car, you're driving me crazy."

"Okay!" The short blonde practically flew out the door, letting it slam behind her with a crash, "Sorry!" Dawn called out as Marianne winced. "Total accident."

Sighing the older woman finished tying her boots up, picked up her sports bag, dug out a set of keys so she could lock up the dojo for the night and slung the bag over her shoulder.

* * *

The drive home was short but tiring, mainly due to Dawn's constant commentary.

"So do you think that new guy's gonna show up?"

"I don't know, he said he might." They stopped at a light, giving Marianne the chance to look over at her sister, "Why do you care anyway?"

"Are you kidding me? Taking your class is practically the only time Dad lets me out of the house, if I don't meet a guy then, when am I?"

Marianne shook her head at Dawn's antics, putting the car into gear as they set off again, "Trust me, he's not your type."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Dawn thought about this for a minute before letting out such a high pitched squeal that it made Marianne slam on the breaks.

"Jesus Christ, Dawn! What?"

"You like him, don't you?" Dawn exclaimed with unconcealed delight, "he's not _my_ type because he's _your_ type!"

"What? No," Marianne put her foot back on the accelerator, flipping off various cars that had honked their horn at her abrupt halt. "Don't be silly Dawn, I don't have a type. I don't do the whole crushing-on-a-guy anymore."

But Dawn was oblivious to her sister's claims, "You like him, you like him, you like him…" she sang, over and over, poking Marianne's arm as she did.

"Stop that," she mutter, shaking her arm, "no I don't."

"You're only adding flames to the fire!" Dawn sang gleefully, her voice raising a couple of octaves for the last word.

"Urgh." Marianne gave up, Dawn would get tired of teasing her eventually, right?

Wrong.

Five minutes later she was still at it. "His voice sounded nice, didn't it?" Dawn's victim gave a noncommittal grunt, "Personally I prefer a more posher accent, but hey," she nudged her sister, "whatever works for you." Marianne didn't even reply to this, they were almost home anyway.

"Hey Dawn?"

"...because it's totally fine if- yeah?"

"Don't mention it to Dad."

"What that you might have a new student or that you like the guy?"

"Both."

Dawn jumped up and down in her chair at this, "So you do like him!" she said accusingly.

"Nu-uh, but if you carry on Dad might _think_ I do, and I'd rather not have him bring up The Asshole."

"Oh," Dawn fell silent. Marianne's last relationship hadn't ended very well, quite the opposite in fact, though Dawn didn't know why and Marianne refused to talk about it. It was the only thing the older sister kept secret from the younger, even after almost a year had passed. The wedding had just been called off, right on the day itself, just like that with no explanation and no chances of another date being set. It was Over.

* * *

Not another word was spoken between the two sisters until they'd arrived home, and even then it was only Marianne asking Dawn to help her prepare dinner. It wasn't that Marianne was angry at her sister, it was just that whenever her ex-fiancé was mentioned, she clammed up and only spoke when was necessary.

During the two years she had spent with Roland, he had slowly discouraged her from everything she'd loved, including aikido. Once she'd called the wedding off, she had thrown herself back into training with renewed force, it was the one thing that didn't remind her how weak she'd felt when she'd found him with _her_. With someone else.

Marianne shook her head, trying to get rid of such thoughts. She was strong now, and she wouldn't let something like that happen ever again. Dawn looked at her worriedly from the other side of the kitchen, not pushing her sister to talk, but ready to listen when she was ready to.

Once dinner was ready, Marianne called her father while Dawn set the table. Soon enough they were sat down enjoying their meal in silence, that is until the questions started.

"How was class today?"

"Good," mumbled Marianne, chewing, "I taught Dawn how to correctly flip and fall sideways."

"Well more or less, I still sometimes-"

"-almost always-"

"-land facing the wrong way."

"That’s interesting, my dear," he shifted his attention towards his eldest daughter, "Marianne, did you remember to lock up?"

"Yep, just like I do everyday."

"Just checking."

"I know, Dad."

"Any new students?"

The two sisters exchanged looks, "No," replied Marianne. It wasn't exactly a lie, the tall man wasn't a student. Yet.

"Hmm, we really need to consider business tactics to get more people involved…"  

"Yeah, lowering the price would be a good one," Marianne muttered under her breath, so only Dawn heard. Their father was still going on and on, but neither sister were paying much attention to him, every night he would say the same thing, and come up with the same solution of "...so I guess we'll just wait to see what happens, right girls?" This was their cue to re-enter the conversation.

"Mm-hum."

"Yeah. We've always got Sunny." This perhaps was not the best time for Dawn to bring her best friend into the equation.

"Ah yes that little fellow," Dawn's brow furrowed at the dig at Sunny's height, "shouldn't he be paying more than what he currently is?"

"No, Dad. Stop getting so concerned over money, we're not struggling to get by." Marianne pointedly gestured towards the grilled salmon they were eating.

"True, but we can't have him being a freeloader."

"DAD!" Both girls cried out, Dawn appalled that he would even consider Sunny to be such a thing, and Marianne in a warning tone because now it was all about to kick off.

"Sunny is NOT a freeloader Daddy, he pays his way! And he's helped us more times than I can count, he's always there for us, for me and…" Dawn uncharacteristically trailed off, blinked a few times, blushed and went back to her meal.

Luckily Marianne, though slightly confused at her sister's behaviour, was there to carry on for her, "We’re not getting rid of our only paying customer Dad."

"Alright, okay," he raised his hands slightly before pointing his fork at Marianne, "but remember our agreement."

This elicited a sigh from both daughters, as well as a clatter of cutlery as Dawn finished her meal. Marianne finished soon after and excused herself from the table, pulling her sister with her.

Once they were in her room, with the door shut, Marianne crossed her arms, "What was that about?"

"What was what about?" came the innocent reply.

"Dawn…"

"I was just, oh I don't know," Dawn began wringing her hands together, like she always did when she was nervous. "It's probably nothing," she smiled at her sister, "you know how I always overthink things."

"Yes," Marianne replied cautiously, "but never anything to do with Sunny."

"Well… There's a first time for everything." The way Dawn said it made it seem more like a question than a statement.

Marianne sighed, "I just don't want you getting hurt or anything-"

"I won't!"

"Or Sunny getting hurt, he's my friend too remember."

"I know, I know!" Dawn took hold of her sister's hands in her own, "Look Marianne it was nothing okay, forget about it."

"I just don't want you to have to go through what I did," Marianne whispered, "I know that Sunny is nothing like," she paused, "like Roland, but still, the thought of anyone hurting you in that way-"

"Hey, I'll be _fine_." Dawn smiled, "Like I said, I honestly don't know why I, you know…" Marianne nodded, "So I guess I’ll just apply Dad’s plan of 'waiting' and 'seeing what happens'."

"Okay, okay." Marianne brought Dawn close to her and kissed her forehead once she finished hugging her. "Go keep Dad company, I've got some work to do."

"Does that 'work' have anything to do with that guy or…?" Dawn teased as she walked out the door.

Marianne's only answer was to throw a pillow at her, which missed and hit the door Dawn had quickly closed, giggling. The brunette knew she was worrying over nothing, sure her sister had a crush on a new guy every week, but she'd know Sunny since they were kids; and what Dawn had said was true, he had always been there for her, and hopefully always would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah that was my first Strange Magic fic, most of the events in this fic are gonna be based on what I went through when I was taking aikido classes (others suggestions from you guys on tumblr (yes you! hii ^-^)), some that are already plot bunnies hopping about in my head (I just need to catch them).
> 
> The title of this chapter, and the name of the dojo, means Butterfly Fields. Some Japanese will be used in this fic (along with maybe Spanish and Italian as suggested, the Italian I'm afraid may not be accurate) but all translations will either be mentioned in the story or in the notes :)
> 
> Oh I also might reference songs occasionally (some my own) but again these will also be mentioned in the notes.
> 
> Hope you like this, comments and suggestions are welcome, and I will be uploading more chapters but I tend to write at random intervals so I have no idea when, sorry.


	2. New Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dawn surprises Marianne with a night out, Sunny tagging along for the fun of it (and to show off his big ass jeep bc he hardly ever gets an excuse to drive it anywhere cool)

The weekend passed rather quickly for Marianne who occupied herself training with her bokken, the most common weapon used in aikido, though not the only one. It was shaped like a katana sword, but made of makassar ebony. Marianne had specifically chosen this material to hand-carve her bokken out of when she had visited her aunt in Tokyo a year ago. She felt it suited her and her aunt agreed, though warned her against using it for the more aggressive partner practises and had given her niece one of her own maple bokkens for such times.

The young instructor was in the middle of a complicated technique known as the 7 bokken suburi, when Dawn knocked on the door of the dojo. Marianne sighed and finished the sequence she was on before holding her bokken in both hands, bowing to it, and placing it on its rack on the wall. Walking to the edge of the mat, she bowed again, placing her hands together this time, and stepped off. Only then did she jog up the steps and open the door causing Dawn to tumble onto the floor, her support having been removed.

"Shit, sorry," Marianne leant her sister a hand. "You okay?"

Dawn bounced up, using the hand offered as leverage, "I'm fine." She brushed herself off despite not having a speck of dust on her dress. "Dad sent me to come get you."

"He let you drive?" Marianne said incredulously, knowing how erratic Dawn's driving could be.

"Of course not, silly. I called Sunny, he's waiting in the parking lot. I thought maybe the three of us could go to-"

"No."

"Aw, c'mon Marianne!" Dawn looked up at her sister, all blue eyes and pouty lip. "It's Sunday night, and Dad'll only let me go out if you come too."

"So," Marianne began, trying to make sense of the situation, "you asked Dad to go out who sent you, like he actually _sent_ you, to get me to ask me if I would go out, which was the only way he would let you go out?" A quizzical look came across the older sister's face. The question had made even less sense than the situation, but Dawn seemed to get what she meant.

"Yep, so will you?"

Marianne sighed, "Far be it for me to stop my little sister from going out when she only gets to once in a blue moon."

"Aaaaah!" Dawn threw her arms around Marianne's neck, almost strangling her. "You're the best sis ever!"

"I try," Marianne took Dawn's arms away from her neck and placed them firmly by her sister's sides. "Let me go change and I'll be right with you. Go wait with Sunny if you want, I won't be long."

Dawn hugged her sister again before going out the door, this time making sure she closed it _ever so slowly_ behind her, and heading out into the night.

Sunny watched her dance across the parking lot, her arms occasionally flinging out. She looked to be singing but he couldn't hear her through his window, so he opened it and instantly her voice hit him.

 _...na have fun._  
_Girls,  
_ _Wanna have_

 _Some boys take a beautiful girl_  
_And hide her away from the rest of the world.  
_ _I wanna be the one to walk in the sun..._

At this Dawn twirled around, her palms to the sky, despite the fact that the sun had already set. Sunny thought just how lucky he was to be best friends with her, with this wonderful being of pure energy, who found joy in the littlest of things and could light up a room with her smile. It would be selfish to hide her away from the world.

He stare at her intoxicated, breathing in the sweet sound of her voice.

 _...when the working day is done,_  
_Oh, girls,_  
_They wanna have fu-un._  
_Oh, girls,  
__Just wanna have_ -

"Hi Sunny!" Dawn abruptly cut off her singing as she reached his jeep, making Sunny snap out of his trance. "Can you tell Marianne said yes to going out?"

"A little bit," he joked, recovering quickly and leaning out of the window. "Where is she?"

Dawn motioned towards the dojo, "Still in there, but she said she wouldn't be long." She skipped round to the other side of the massively oversized vehicle, frowning up at it. "I still can't believe you bought this great lump of a…" she struggled to find a name for it, waving her hand around as she thought.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't offend Sunflower, you'll hurt her feelings!" The door opened to reveal a smiling Sunny, leant across the centre console so he could offer Dawn his hand.

"Oh that’s right, I’d forgotten you'd named your monster truck after a _flower_." Dawn teased climbing up, using Sunny and the door to support her.

"She's a Jeep, and it suits her delicate personality.” The small man sniffed, gently patting the steering wheel with his free hand.

Dawn, now sat in her seat, let out a muffled laugh, "She's almost six feet in height alone, Sunny."

"Be that as it may, she's still a delicate flower."

"Even when we go off-roading?"

"Especially when we go off-roading." The two friends looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Soon they were doubled over, their arms across each other's shoulders and had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard. Every time they thought their laughing fit was over, one of them would just _look_ at the other and then they were off again, giggling away. Words were attempted, but neither were able to form a single sentence, so gave up.

This was how Marianne found the pair, "Looks like you two don't need to go out, you've got all the fun you need right here."

"No no… still wanna go… we were," a glance at Sunny and Dawn was all giggles again.

"What am I going to do with you two?" Marianne asked fondly, jumping up into the back seat with ease. "Where're we going anyway?" She asked once they'd both settled down.

"You'll see. I was going to," a giggle, "I was going to tell you, but because you were so grumpy and-" Dawn looked back at her sister and gasped sharply. "You're going like that?"

Marianne had not expected to be going out after her aikido training and so had simply thrown her black leggings from Friday in her sports bag along with a fresh t-shirt from her dresser, she hadn't even checked which one. A cargo coat was on the seat next to her, her hiking boots didn't quite cover up her odd socks and her makeup shrouded her eyes in their dark purple hue, her lips only a shade lighter. Marianne was in her element.

"Uh yeah, why? It's not like I would have decided to wear anything different."

Dawn stare at her for a while, taking in her sister's short wild hair, ever so slightly shaking her head. "The woman on your t-shirt is firing a machine gun," she finally muttered.

"Oh it's that t-shirt is it?" Marianne grinned, plucking at her top to see it better.

"'Oh it's that t-shirt'," Dawn mocked good-naturedly, "What am I going to do with _you_?"

"Take me somewhere fancy so I can scare all the snobs with my _terrible_ attire?"

"That’s not funny Marianne, now I have to think of a new place for us to go."

Sunny had been watching the sister's exchange with amusement. "Why don't we just go downtown?" He piped up.

"NO!" Both replied at once, turning to face Sunny who somehow managed to make himself seem even smaller under their gaze.

"I don't wanna go _there_."

"We're not taking Dawn _there_."

They had spoken at the same time again and Sunny's gaze darted between the two. "The outskirts then," he suggested timidly, "there's some nice places there, places I used to go to all the time when I lived in the area."

Marianne glanced at her sister, "I _guess_ we could try close to the downtown border," Sunny's face lit up, "but no further than that."

Sunny nodded, his confidence returned, and turned the key in the ignition, "The Glow Cavern it is then, buckle up!"

The colossal gold painted jeep, fondly christened Sunflower by her owner, sped out of the parking lot, tires squeaking on the asphalt, the engine letting out a deafening roar as it hit the road and disappeared into the night.

* * *

Across town, the man who had paid a visit to the Chou Gen'ya Dojo was in the middle of kicking out a rowdy drunkard responsible for starting a fight in The Glow Cavern. He had been hired as a bouncer mainly due to his reputation as a man who took no shit, and it was certainly showing tonight.

"An' don't let me see yer rudy face in here again!" He had to literally growl at the inhibited man before he would stumble away. The bouncer pinched the bridge of his nose, "I don’t get paid enough fer this," he muttered, walking back into the nightclub.

The inside was, as the name suggested, glowing. The black ceiling was dotted with neon blue tear shaped bulbs, some which hung down in strings that patrons had to brush through like curtains. The floor tiles were set up to change colour from the same blue as the lights, to black, as people stepped on them. Only a few people and it was ineffective; when the club was full, it was overwhelming and gave most quite the headache.

Sunday nights were usually his favourite, though if he were asked, the bouncer would probably say that tonight was the exception, but then again Sunday nights were always different - that's why he liked them so much. That and the fact that the club never got too busy and Sunday was when first time visitors, new faces he called them, popped into the club, though he rarely had the time, nor the patience, to stop and chat.

No, the reason he liked new faces wasn't to meet them, but to see their reaction to the place, how they stared in wonder around them. First at the ceiling with it's bright lights of various sizes that reflected off the walls and furnishings, giving the whole place a gentle blue glow; then at the floor once they realised how it worked.

When those people danced, purposely stepping on as much of the floor as possible, the tiles changed in time with their dancing and the music, creating such a beautiful harmony between sound and light that the bouncer often forgot he had a job to do.

Of course he would never admit to this, keeping up a pretext of annoyance at pretty things was a part of his persona. No one would take him seriously if they knew the truth, at least, that's what he told himself. Especially when he didn't exactly look like a regular bouncer. Sure he was tall, but he had significantly less muscle mass than what was expected from a person of his profession, not that it stopped him from throwing people out of the club.

He felt a breeze blow in through the door as it opened next to him. A quick glance to the right told him it was a group of three people, and not ones he'd seen before - new faces.

The tallest of the three looked like she had just happened upon the club as she was heading home, but it was clear from the way the other woman - the blonde one in the dress - was dragging her towards the closest set of stringed lights, that she had been pulled into the other two's plans.

He smiled knowingly as the blonde lightly tapped one of the bulbs then nudged the other woman, pointing towards the floor. Typical new face behaviour. The man in the group, despite the bouncer not recognising him, had obviously seen it all before and had walked off to get drinks.

The other woman however… she just seemed bored by it all. Sure she tapped her foot once on a tile when it was pointed out to her, but that was it. She was clearly a new face, he knew he'd never seen- and that was when she turned around, her face illuminated by one of the many blue tears and clearly visible from across such a short distance.

He _had_ seen her before. He recognised those brown-golden eyes.

 _She was the instructor_ , he realised, _the aikido instructor_. He had thought about not going back, regretting even going to a dojo that was so far away from his comfort zone and home, but seeing her now… Well, he'd have to go back, if only to ask her what she was doing in a place like this, not that it was any of his business asking her that but it certainly made having her as an instructor more... interesting, yes that was the word.

"Hey Mister!" The voice startled the bouncer from his thoughts, and he looked down to see the blonde from earlier.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you keep staring at my sister?"

Well he certainly hadn't expected that, "I um, I thought I recognised 'er," he quickly glanced away. "Must be a trick of th' light." The bouncer still felt the woman's eyes on him and looked back down sharply, "What?"

"Do I know you?"

"No I ah, I don't think ye do, I um-"

"I _do_ know you! You’re that guy that I overheard talking with Marianne in the dojo. I recognise your voice, so don't even try to lie, Mister!" That explained how she recognised him despite never having seen him before. Silently he cursed his accent.

The woman was now signalling to the other one - her sister - not even attempting to call across the club what with the loud- wait a minute. Was she coming over? No surely not, he couldn't talk to her _now_. He didn’t know what to say, he needed to have some sort of plan ready before-

"Hello."

"Um, hi." Well, that was a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awkward Bog is best Bog.
> 
> The song mentioned is obviously 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' by Cyndi Lauper, it just seemed like the perfect song for Dawn ^-^
> 
> I'm going to focus on my a levels for the next week so next update might not be till then, (but then again I have no self-control and I will probably start writing the next chapter tomorrow morning)
> 
> The technique mentioned is one that I saw my sensei practise, but one that I myself was never instructed on. It's basically 7 different sequences that get harder as you go on. There's quite a few like this, the 6 kata being the only one I know off by heart, but that's with the jo, not the bokken. More on that weapon in later chapters, (it's like a staff so will be perfect for Bog)
> 
> And that's it from me, comments are always appreciated, I gush at every one and squeal whenever I get a hit/kudos :D


	3. You Shouldn't Challenge A Master

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let the snarky flirting commence! Though of course, there's always gonna be something to interrupt them...

The bouncer had been watching Marianne for a while now, and Dawn was not having it. He looked like Trouble and had this stupid smirk on his face that she didn't like one bit. She didn't care that he must be around two feet taller than her, she was going to do something about this creep.

Marianne wasn't the only one who could play the protective sister.

And so she had determinedly marched up to the bouncer to confront him, never expecting to recognise him, least of all by his voice. But she did, and he recognised Marianne too.

Marianne herself had settled down at one of the many tall tables dotted around the outskirts of the club; so when she noticed her sister, beckoning her over with all the discreteness of a tail-spreading peacock, she groaned but slipped gracefully off the high stool and made her way towards Dawn, almost tripping on the table leg as she did so.

It was only when she was halfway across that she realised Dawn was stood next to someone, a man. His expression of undisguised shock mirrored her own when she recognised his eyes, those warm icy-blue eyes.

He was the student.

Marianne stopped in front of him, any doubt that this could be anyone other than him gone from her mind.

"Hello," she managed to get out.

"Um, hi."

The stared at each until Dawn cut in, her voice slightly higher than usual, "Well, you two have fun, I'll just go look for Sunny." She pointed behind her in the direction of the bar, spun around and had soon merged into the crowd.

Marianne was still looking back at where her sister had disappeared from when the man cleared his throat. He waited until she was facing him before awkwardly sticking out his hand. "I'm Bog by th' way, Bog King."

Marianne took his hand, her own almost disappearing in the vastness of his, "Marianne Fairwood, nice to meet you. Again." She let out a nervous laugh, as did he and released her hand.

Another few moments of silence and this time, Marianne was the one who broke it.

"So you erm, you work here then?"

"At night aye."

"And does this," she gestured towards the club in general, "have anything to do with wanting to take my classes or…"

"Ah no, no. I just fancied tryin' mah hand at aikido." Bog shrugged, it wasn't a lie, but then again it also wasn't the full truth.

"Hmm, let's hope you're ready for it."

"I think yoo'll find I'll be better than what ye expect, Tough Girl."

Marianne stared at him incredulously, not believe his nerve, "Oh really?"

His only reply was to grin and refold his arms. Oh how she wished she could wipe that smug look off his face. In fact, she was determined to.

"Hmm, the dark silent type huh? Or is it more like the I-don't-have-anything-smart-to-say type?"

"I guess yoo'll have ter find out," he whispered leaning down, his eyes almost level with hers.

The brunette kept her gaze steady, not being one to back down. "You shouldn't challenge a Master you know."

"Oh, I know," but he didn't look away.

At this point they were practically nose to nose, and who knows what would have happened next had Sunny not interrupted them.

"Marianne, Marianne! Have you- oh sorry," Sunny stopped and looked up curiously at the two, Marianne draw up to her full height and Bog bent slightly at the waist, his neck tilting down so his chin was almost touching his chest. "Did I interrupt something?"

Both blinked at the same time and, as if they were mirror images, turned to face the smaller man.

Marianne was the first to recover, "What's up Sunny?"

He eyed the other man quickly, who was glancing between him and Marianne, before answering, "It's Dawn, I can't find her."

At this Marianne grabbed hold of Sunny's shoulders, "What do you mean, you can't find her?" It was normal for her to not be able to find her sister, and maybe even for Dawn to not be able to find Sunny. But Sunny not find Dawn? He always found her, it was like he was tuned into her and always knew where he could find her.

As soon as Bog saw the frantic worry in Marianne's eyes, he had took advantage of his height to scan the club for any signs of her sister, instantly making the connection between the name Dawn and the blonde who'd confronted him. He wasn't doing it as a favour, he told himself, he was a bouncer and this was part of his job. However chatting with the clientele wasn't.

"I can’t see 'er anywhere. Why don't you-" Bog looked back down and noticed he was standing alone again.

Oh.

He frowned and rolled his shoulders, she'd obviously gone to find her sister, taking the little guy, Sunny she had called him, with her.

And of course that was when Bog spotted Dawn, naively talking to a group of men that had been hanging out with the guy he'd thrown out earlier. They weren't the sort of people that usually hung out at The Glow Cavern, oh no, these were high class rich boys who had nothing better to do than pick up women they thought were beneath them.

This wasn't good.

Another quick survey of the area and not a feisty short haired brunette woman in sight, meant Bog was going to have to keep an eye on Dawn until Marianne found her. That or he could go pull her away from those men before it was too late. The bouncer growled in frustration and stalked over, causing people to quickly move as he make his way over to the group.

They were all talking to her at once, making the young girl quite flustered. Suddenly they all stopped talking, staring at her with wide eyes. _No, not at her_ , Dawn craned her neck back, _at him_.

"Hiii!" She exclaimed, her face lighting up as she recognised him, "You're that guy Marianne was talking to."

Bog narrowed his eyes and addressed the men in front of him, "I hope ye weren't tryin' anythin'."

"What was your name again?" Dawn was still looking at him upside-down.

"Bog," he muttered, staring menacingly at the group of men. "Well, were ye?"

The stayed silently staring at him, doing their best to stop themselves from flinching at his brogue filled voice. The three of them looked almost identical and he briefly wondered if they were triplets, but right now, he didn't really care.

He was about to ask them again, maybe this time reinforcing his question with a threat of physical violence, but before he could, Dawn giggled at him, reaching up to boop him on the nose.

"What th'-"

"I think I'll call you Boggy Woggy," she said sweetly, now tweaking his nose, "It suits you."

"What, nahuhg," he pulled his head back, "stop that, I don't-" something clicked in his mind as he looked down at the giggling girl, clearly out of her mind.

The change was instant.

"What did ye do?!" He roared at the three men, holding the poor girl away from them. It didn't matter that he hadn't known she existed before tonight, all that mattered was that these, these bastards, were trying to take advantage of this girl.

"Hey dude, chill," one was saying nervously.

"Chill? Ye want me ter _chill_!?!"

By now almost the entire club had realised what was going on, including Marianne. She had just come out of the bathroom, thinking maybe Dawn had gone in there, to find her sister playfully poking the bouncer while he ignored her, too busy shouting at the three men who were cowering before him.

She marched up to them, about to ask what the hell was going on, until she got a good look at the men in the light that is, "You three?" They turned towards the sound of her voice and somehow, the already extremely terrified look on their faces intensified at the sight of her.

One even yelped and quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

"What the hell is Roland planning now?" For these three men were her ex-fiancé's friends, or rather lackeys, and Marianne was not in the mood for letting whatever this was, slip by her silently. "Where's that son of a bitch hiding?"

"He's not here, he left earlier," one squealed, holding his hands in front of him in surrender, "And we're just leaving too, honest Miss Fairwood we are."

"We didn't know you were here! We didn't mean any harm!"

"Oh yes you did," she growled, towering over them, "and so will I unless you leave _right now_."

The three scrambled to their feet and fled the scene, fighting to be the first to leave and escape the fury of the aikido instructor.

Bog stood stunned and sharply reminded himself not to get on her bad side. Ever.

Marianne was now pulling Dawn away from Bog, trying to get her to stop tugging at his long sleeved t-shirt, "Dawn, Dawn! Listen to me," she grabbed hold of her sister's face between her hands, "What did they do to you?" The blonde didn't answer, too busy trying to get back to poking Bog, giddily mumbling something that sounded like 'Boggy Bear'. The older sister turned to him, "What did they do to her?"

Bog shrugged, "She was like this when I found 'er." Then he noticed the half drunken purple drink, sitting innocently on the table next to them.

He dipped one long finger in the drink, letting the tip of it graze the top. First he smelt it, the vanilla smell overpowering the fruity smell of the drink. Once he tasted it, the saltiness pricking his tongue, he knew exactly what it was, his years working as a bouncer giving him experience with this sort of thing.

"She's bin drugged."

"What?" It was like a whirlwind as Marianne spun to face him, one arm still protectively around Dawn.

He lifted up the glass. "In 'er drink. It tastes like mephedrone."

"What, what is that?" Marianne was getting rather frantic.

"It’s a minur drug, I've seen it used in other clubs," he frowned, "ne'er in this one." He shook the glass, "She’s lucky she didn't finish it."

"Well what will it do to her?"

He pointed towards the drugged girl who was determined to reach Bog, "That." Marianne narrowed her eyes at him. "Hey don't look at me like that, I only know how ter recognise th' drug, I don't know th' after effects, not exactly. But I'd say ter keep 'er hydrated, an' get 'er out of here. She should be fine inna few hours, she didn't drink enough fer it ter last long."

Marianne nodded and started pulling Dawn away, "Nooo, Boggy Woggy!" She cried, struggling to free herself from her sister's hold.

"Bog," The bouncer corrected, sighing in frustration. "Do ye want me ter just carry 'er?"

"No, I can ma-"

"Yeah! Piggy back ride!" Dawn escaped Marianne’s grasp and jumped up on Bog’s back with incredible force, almost making him fall backwards with the sudden additional weight of her.

"Bloody hell woman," he grumbled, lifting her up higher by her arms to better balance them both.

Unfortunately this just gave Dawn an opportunity to half strangle Bog as she threw her arms around his neck.

Bog yelped and, once he was able to speak again, muttered, "Let's just go."

The crowd parted for the strange group as they passed, the tall grumpy bouncer carrying the giddy blonde on his back who was busying herself fluffing up his hair, and the tough fiery woman who had just made three grown men tremble with fear and scurry away.

Bog bursted through the doors, swinging both open dramatically and very nearly forgetting to duck. It was actually Dawn who reminded him by pushing his head down for him, mumbling something along the lines of 'Silly Boggy' and patting his face.

"Where's yer car?"

"Over here," Marianne took the lead and stopped once she reached Sunny's monstrosity of a vehicle.

"No way is that yoors," Bog stated staring at the yellow eye-sore.

Marianne laughed, despite the seriousness of the situation, "It's Sunny's."

"It's… Sunny's?" Bog was staring open mouthed at the jeep, looking from it to Marianne. "The little guy?"

"Yes, the little guy," came a snarky response, and lo and behold there was Sunny stood behind him.

"How did ye know we were here?"

Sunny raised an eyebrow, "When I left the back rooms I asked someone if they’d seen a little blonde woman and they pointed me in the direction of the exit, said to look out for a tall angry dude. You weren't exactly inconspicuous in there." He glanced up at his best friend, still fiddling with Bog's hair, "What happened, and why are _you_ carrying Dawn?"

"To be fair, she jumped on him," Marianne cut in before Bog could say anything. Sunny frowned at the sight of his best friend on a guy's back, one who was practically a giant to him, but pulled out his car keys and opened the truck.

"What’s up with her anyway?"

"Roland's goons gave her something.” Marianne muttered angrily while trying to get Dawn off Bog's back and into the car, but it was no use, she wasn't budging.

"Let me try," Bog turned round and sat down on the back seat and shrugged the blonde off, quickly standing up and twisting round before she had a chance to grab hold again.

Sunny jumped into the jeep, sitting next to Dawn, and felt her forehead, "It was something bad, wasn't it?" He asked nervously, glancing back at Marianne and the bouncer, who nodded. "She needs some water then."

"Of course, aye, I'll go get some," he started to head back towards the club.

"There's some in the trunk," Sunny called after him.

Bog turned on the spot, "Oh." He went round the back of the car, swing the trunk door open and reaching inside until he found a two litre bottle of water and passed it to Sunny, "Here."

Marianne walked up to Bog and placed a hand on his arm, "Thank you."

"Er yer welcome, but why?"

"You didn't have to do this, and you did."

Bog chuckled, which drew an inquisitive look from Marianne until he explained, "Ter be honest, I was afraid of ye beatin' me up."

Marianne smiled at him, "There'll be plenty of time for that tomorrow." Her expression darkened again as she turned back towards her sister and Sunny who was gently coaxing water into her mouth and rubbing her shoulders.

"She'll be okay."

"I hope so," was Marianne's only response.

Sometime after, Bog made his excuses and started walking back to the club while Marianne jumped into the driver's seat, unwilling to ask Sunny to leave Dawn so he could drive.

As they pulled out into the empty road, Marianne waved at Bog, now stood at the door watching her go. He returned the wave before ducking into The Glow Cavern, knowing for certain he’d be seeing her soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As soon as I started writing this chapter I knew something similar to the love potion was going to be included, though I had to do quite a lot of research to find anything that came close to it that wasn't anything extremely serious and/or harmful. This doesn't mean that the drug mentioned isn't harmful, it is, just not as bad as others. (I'm sorry Dawn)
> 
> And yep that guy that got thrown out of the club in the last chapter was Roland, betcha didn't expect that huh? I needed Roland to be reminded of Marianne but not confront her, not yet, and his three soldiers from the movie seemed like the perfect way (they'll obviously tell Roland about their little run in with Marianne).
> 
> Sorry for the lack of aikido, the next chapter will most likely be solely dedicated to one of Marianne's classes ^-^


	4. A Lesson In Kicking Ass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bog's first lesson, more fluff between him and Marianne, and Bog fails to open up about his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick glossary seeing as I use a bit of Japanese in this chapter:
> 
> "Ichi… Ni… San… Shi… Go… Roku… Shichi… Hachi… Kyū… Jū…" => numbers up to 10  
> "Osensei" => the founder of aikido  
> "Tachi waza" => practise with a partner  
> "Katate-mochi shiho-nage ichi" => four-direction throw from a one hand grasp  
> "Uke" => person that attacks the person performing the technique  
> "Tori" => person performing the technique  
> "Arigatō" => Thank you  
> "Kochirakoso arigatō gozaimasu" => Thank YOU (kind of like 'you're welcome', but not in those words, bc you shouldn't really say 'you're welcome' in Japanese)
> 
> I think those are all the ones that aren't explained directly by the characters, tell me if not and I'll add to the list :)

Dawn wasn't able to sleep until well into the next day and Sunny had insisted on Marianne going to sleep. He reassured the worrying sister that he would stay up with Dawn and make sure she got enough water and didn't overheat.

Marianne had reluctantly agreed and called her father to tell him that they'd be staying at Sunny's for the night. Once that was sorted out she kissed Dawn goodnight, made up the guest bed for herself and settled down, eventually falling asleep after much tossing and turning, praying for all she was worth that her baby sister would be okay come morning.

As it turned out, the only lasting effects of the drug was that Dawn's memory of the night's events were confusingly fuzzy - probably for the best all things considered. Hyped up as she was, Dawn hadn't slept until 3am, a full six hours after she'd been slipped the drug. Now at 1pm she was fully rested and trying to piece together what had happened at The Glow Cavern.

"-And then I jumped on his back?"

"Yes."

Dawn put her face in her hands, "Why me?" she mumbled through her fingers.

Marianne put her arm around her sister's shoulder, hugging her close, "He didn't seem to mind, not too much. Remember he's a bouncer, he's probably seen much worse." She gently began stroking Dawn's as-of-yet unbrushed hair, "What I'm concerned about is what other things that _stuff_ did to you."

"I told you, I'm _fine_." Dawn pulled out of her sister’s embrace and stood up from the sofa, fluffing her hair. "I'm going to go see how Sunny's getting along with lunch."

"Okay," Marianne watched her sister turn the corner into the kitchen and sighed. _Why her indeed_ , she wondered.

Ever since Roland's betrayal, Marianne had become overly protective of Dawn, but it wasn't without reason - last night was a prime example. The aikido instructor hated herself for not staying by Dawn's side, for letting herself get distracted by someone she didn't even know, by some tall, lanky, Scottish-

Dawn's voice broke her train of thought, "Marianne?"

"Yeah?"

"Lunch is ready."

And so Marianne ate lunch in silence, letting Sunny, who fussed over Dawn as much as she did, do most of the talking. She thought about leaving, about catching the bus to her dojo and starting training early. But she couldn't leave Dawn. Not again.

As cutlery clattered onto empty plates, Marianne got up, taking them with her to wash up. Every so often she would turn her head slightly to look back at the pair, wondering what they were whispering about and why they were being so secretive about whatever it was.

It soon became apparent.

"Hey Marianne?"

"Hmm?"

Dawn twiddled her fingers and looked back at Sunny, who gave her an encouraging smile, before getting to the point, "I was, I mean we were, we were wondering if you could give us some meditation lessons."

This confused Marianne who had never known neither Dawn nor Sunny to be interested in the spiritual side of aikido before. "I'd be happy to, but, why now?" she asked skeptically.

"Why not now?"

Marianne frowned, she didn't like it when Dawn used what the brunette referred to as 'stupid logic'. She liked it even less when Dawn gave her _The Face_ , "Urgh fine," she threw her arms up in the air, "You wanna do it here or at the dojo?"

Another look was exchanged between the best friends and it was Sunny who replied, "Where's best?"

"Dojo it is."

* * *

"Just breath in, slowly, for at least 10 seconds... Good good. Now hold it, concentrate on your center... Okay, now let it out, feel the energy leaving the palms of your hands, travelling down your legs - another 10 seconds remember - and escaping through the soles of your feet.

"Once you've got this breathing rhythm perfected, imagine the energy flowing around your body. Keep at it... Breathe in... Ichi… Ni… San… Shi… Go… Roku… Shichi… Hachi… Kyū… Jū… Feel the energy in your lower stomach, hold it there... Now back out… Ichi… Ni…"

Marianne trailed off as she heard a light knock on the dojo door.

"Er, keep it up, I'll be back in a few minutes." The instructor began walking backwards to the edge of the mat, making a hurried stay gesture at her two students, despite the fact that they had their eyes closed. "Keep up the rhythm."

A quick bow and she was off the mat, hopping up the steps and pulling open the door.

"Can I hel- Oh it's you."

"Hello," Bog smiled down at her, his head ducked slightly so he could actually see through the doorway, "Sorry, amah early?"

"No, no," Marianne looked up at the clock on the wall. "Well kinda, but it's okay," she said quickly, moving out of the way so he could get past, "we're meditating. Well, they are."

Bog's eyes scanned the dojo, landing on the two figures sat crossed legged on the mat, "Wow, small class."

"Yeah… Why'd you think I was so happy when you 'popped in' the other day?"

"Ye mean it wasn't mah charmin' personality?" Bog teased.

Marianne grinned, "Well it wasn't your manners, that's for sure."

"Oh really? An' there's me thinkin' I'd made an excellent first impression."

By this point they were almost nose to nose, "Think again."

"Oh will you two get a room!" Piped up a voice from the mat, making Marianne and Bog quickly look away from each other.

"Dawn! You're meant to be meditating." Marianne scolded, her annoyed tone only just masking her embarrassment.

The small blonde had stood up and was walking towards them, her hamaka fluttering at her sides. She stopped at the edge of the mat, hand on her hip. "I know, but we've been at it for…" she squinted at the clock behind her sister, "...almost 2 hours now."

"That's how long it takes to get to grips with the breathing technique. Longer in fact! You're the one asked me to teach you two how to meditate."

"I know!" Dawn whined, "but it's time for action," she grinned evilly at Bog, "I wanna floor the new guy."

Bog's mouth opened and closed like a fish as he his gaze shifted between the two sisters. "She, she can do tha'?"

Marianne shrugged, "Of course, but she _shouldn't_ ," she turned to her sister, "He's not up to that level yet, he doesn't-"

"Ye what? I'm not up ter th' level of bein' thrown on th' floor?" Bog stared at Marianne incredulously.

The instructor rolled her eyes, "Ever taken an aikido class before?"

"No… But I-"

"Then you’re not up to that level," Bog started to protest, but Marianne cut him off. "You need to know how to fall correctly so you don't break your ribs or something."

Bog surprised her by nodding, "Yer right, of course."

Marianne, noticing the lack of a sports bag, asked, "Don't you have a kimono?"

"Ah, no, no. I used ter, but… no. I don't have one. An' I've certainly ne'er had one of those." He pointed at the black robe like pants both Marianne and Dawn were wearing.

"Oh you won't need these yet." She looked him up and down, "I'm not sure if they even have a kimono in your size."

"Oh, they do."

Marianne raised an eyebrow, "I'll see what I can do then. I guess what you're wearing will do for now, though you might want to think about taking the jacket off."

Bog was dressed in black tracksuit pants, complete with a matching jacket that was zipped up to his chin, a chin that was shaking from side to side, "I'd raither not, if tha's okay."

"I personally don't mind. As, as an instructor I mean. It's just, you might get… hot?" Marianne finished lamely and now it was Bog's turn to raise his eyebrow, a sly grin on his face.

"I'll be fine, Tough Girl."

"Alright then. Do take your shoes off though." Marianne waited for him to do so before carrying on. "I suppose we should get started. It _is_ still slightly early, but not by much." She turned to Dawn, "Go wake Sunny up, but be careful with him."

Dawn bowed to her sister and skipped over to Sunny, shaking him gently until he woke up from his meditation. He jumped at first, but soon started smiling when he saw who had woken him.

The two assumed their positions on one side of the mat while Marianne showed Bog how to bow when he stepped onto the mat. "You must greet Morihei Ueshiba, the Osensei," she pointed towards a framed picture of a man on the wall opposite Dawn and Sunny. "Place both feet on the mat, press your hands together, that's it, and bend at the waist."

Bog did so and then walked over to where the other two were. He then knelt, as they were, at the far end, next to Sunny. "Psst," he whispered to Bog, "next time walk behind us. If we had weapons we could have cut your ankles."

"Oh, cheers…"

Marianne had just finished bowing at the Osensei herself, and now knelt down, her back to the portrait. Placing her hands on the mat, she bowed again, making sure Bog could see the position of her hands - her thumbs and forefingers making a small triangle.

Dawn, Sunny, and Bog, once he realised, followed suit, the latter's nose accidentally touching the mat as he rushed to be in time with the other two. Still slightly behind, he copied them as they stood up and stepped forwards, spacing themselves out.

What followed was a typical warm-up routine which Bog was able to keep up with fairly easily, though he did have to unzip his jacket at one point, revealing a gray faded t-shirt. But he didn't take it off.

"Okay," exclaimed Marianne when they finished, "Dawn, you and Sunny practise tachi waza, whichever technique you want."

"Katate-mochi shiho-nage ichi?"

"Sure, Sunny." She turned to Bog, "Okay I'm just going to run through the basics with you. First off is the basic stance, kamae." Marianne stood facing Bog, her right foot in front of the other and her left turned outwards. "Try that." He did. "Good, good. Now bring your hands up, one in front of the other... Perfect."

"Is this really necessary? I awreddy know this."

"Oh do you? Show me ai-hanmi then."

Bog faltered, "I don't, don't-"

"I know you don't, otherwise you'd've known that you're already doing ai-hanmi." Marianne sighed and stepped forward, grasping Bog's right hand in her own, "See, our arms are crossed in front of our bodies. That's ai-hanmi."

He stared at their linked hands, "Ai-hanmi…"

She released him and stepped back, swapping her feet around. Now she grabbed hold of his right hand in her left, "That's gyaku-hanmi." The instructor used her free hand to draw a line from her shoulder to Bog's, "Straight line, see."

"Right, ai-hanmi an' gyaku-hanmi."

She stepped back again. "Your hands should always follow your feet: if your right foot moves forwards, your right hand should too. Same vice-versa." She demonstrated, switching between the two, "It creates harmony and helps the energy in your body flow."

Bog nodded, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he walked across the dojo.

"You have done this before," Marianne noted, "Not many people move so fluidly."

Bog chuckled, but stayed concentrating on his movements, determined to prove to her that yes, he could do this, such a simple thing, yet so vital to the art.

"Maybe we should move on to strikes. Dawn! Can I borrow you for a sec?"

The whirlwind of black and white stopped abruptly as Dawn landed on her feet following Sunny's throw. "Sure." She turned to face Sunny and bowed, "Arigatō."

"Arigatō," he replied, replicating her gesture and then went on to practice various falling techniques as his uke joined Marianne and Bog.

Marianne only had to utter the words, _shōmen-uchi_ for Dawn to nod once, adopt the kamae stance and perform the technique, hitting her tori square in the middle of her forehead with the side of her hand.

"That's the frontal strike." Marianne said to Bog. To Dawn she said, "yokomen-uchi," and received the same style of hit, but at a diagonal just above her ear. "And that's the-"

"Side strike ter th' head." Marianne looked at him sharply, "Sorry, it's just yokomen means sideways, an' I assume oochi, er, uchi, like tha' right? Means strike. Coz of the other one, somen or some-"

"Shōmen, shōmen-uchi." Her gaze was now more curious than anything, "How come you only know some words? I thought you'd never taken aikido before."

"It's a," Bog shuffled his feet, "It's a long, _long_ story." She was still looking up at him expectantly. "Maybe anither time?"

Marianne blinked, "Yes, of course."

The instructor spent the rest of the lesson teaching Bog certain movements, with the occasional help from either Dawn or Sunny. When the technique did not call for a partner, she would leave him to practise alone while she taught and guided her more advanced students. It would be unfair otherwise.

During these mini solo practices Bog paid little attention to what Marianne had told him to focus on, instead choosing to watch what she was doing; and, fascinated as he was by her herself (though he would never admit this), he was more so by the techniques and moves she employed. Ones that he intended to learn, hopefully sooner rather than later.

* * *

When class ended, Dawn and Sunny left together, leaving Bog and Marianne alone in the dojo. Bowing and stepping off the mat, Marianne handed Bog a bottle of water, eliciting an "Arigatō." from the tall man.

"Kochirakoso arigatō gozaimasu," she replied, gauging his reaction to make sure he understood. When he nodded in response she gathered this meant he did, although he could just be being polite.

Marianne had no idea what his Japanese was like, but whatever his level, it seemed to be all over the place.

Bog sat down on the steps to put his shoes on and was soon joined by Marianne, "So, what do you think?"

"It's good aye. Aikido, it's really ah, interesting."

"I'm glad you think so." They lapsed into silence until Marianne finally decided to voice what had been bugging her, "Why do you know some Japanese, even the names of some of the more complicated techniques I showed you, but yet didn't know what ai-hanmi meant?"

Bog glanced down at the water bottle in his hands and shrugged his shoulders. This was not a conversation he wanted to be having now.

"Bog?"

"It's not somethin' I like ter talk about," he began slowly, his eyes still cast down, "I suppose I could just give ye th' short answer, but yer bound to ask more questions."

"I won't," Bog looked up at her.

Blue eyes met golden ones; the sky met the sun.

"I promise."

Bog nodded slowly, "I used ter practise anither martial art, jiu jitsu, but I ah, I quit."

"Oh, that’s a shame." Was all Marianne said, then flusteredly explained herself, "Sorry I mean, you obviously quit for a reason I just, it would have been cool to, oh I don't know, see how it differs from aikido I guess and I..."

Marianne carried on talking, but Bog was somewhere else, remembering a time when he had met _her_. She'd been so _helpless_ , asking Bog to help her with even the easiest jiu jitsu moves. But he hadn't cared, just being near her was enough. Then he'd tried to impress her by teaching her a move far too advanced for her, and they'd both paid the price of his mistake. 

_You broke it, Bog! You broke my arm! And - ow - I think some ribs too._

_I'm sorry! I didn't mean-_

_Why would you do that??_

_It's not meant- I'm sorry! Tha', it's just th' way it is, I-_

_No, that's just the way_ you _are! This martial art, it just angers you and you can't control your aggression. You turn into a, into a_ monster _! I guess you really can judge a book by its cover._

_Please, let me help-_

_NO! Stay away from me! I should've known you'd hurt me from the start, you, you ugly brute!_

"Bog?"

Her voice uttering his name snatched him away from his memories and back into reality, but he stayed silent and kept his face turned away from her.

"Do you want me to leave you alone?" She asked gently.

He turned to her sharply, "What? No!" Marianne's eyes widened. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it like tha'. Ye can go if yer want ter. I won't force ye ter stay." He let out a short nervous laugh, "We hardly know each other, I don't know why I…" Bog shook his head and cast his eyes back down.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I’m sorry," she repeated. "For bringing it up."

Bog sighed, "It's okay-"

"No, it's not." Marianne stood up and Bog's gaze followed her as she paced across the front of the steps, finally sitting down on one of the benches. "I almost gave up aikido myself, well I did for a while."

"Why?"

"For a guy."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, it wasn't the best idea I've had." A sad smile briefly appeared on Marianne's face, " _Dating_ him wasn't the best idea I've had." She looked down at her left hand where she was still missing a tan where her fourth finger met her knuckle. The scar Roland's engagement ring had left. "We were going to be married," she laughed bitterly, her voice getting more aggressive, "what a joke that was." She began rubbing the mark furiously, "As soon as he told me to stop practising aikido, I should have known he never wanted me to be-"

"You?"

Marianne stopped and looked up, "Yeah…"

"But you are… different."

"I've been told."

"Tha's what I like! I mean uh," he cleared his throat and quickly averted his gaze before looking back, "Well, ye know…"

Marianne laughed gently and smiled at him. "I should lock up, it’s getting late."

"Yes, of course." Bog quickly stood up and headed towards the exit. It was only when he was almost to the door that he realised he hadn't paid her for the lesson. "Oh here," he pulled a 20 dollar bill out of his jacket pocket, and jogged back down the stairs to give it to her.

On the last step, he misplaced his foot, and would have gone flying if not for Marianne's quick reflexes. "Careful," she said as she held onto his elbow, waiting for him to correct himself.

"Erm, thanks."

Marianne's hand travelled to his own as she plucked the money out of it, "Though this is two lessons worth."

"But on th' card-"

"Screw the card!"

Bog chuckled, "I guess I'll _have_ ter come ter class tomorrow then."

"I'd like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dendendeeeen (well kinda), will Bog ever tell Marianne about the time he landed his jiu jitsu partner in hospital and swore off anything that could result in him hurting someone he cares about? Why take up aikido? All will be reveal in *makes vague hand gesture*
> 
> Sorry I've been so long writing this chapter, a freight train called Exams hit me in the face. Also, little trivia for you, some parts of this were written on a boat which did slightly influence my writing (though not too much seeing as they're on solid ground). There's a couple of references to another two of my fandoms in there (; and there's gonna be a time skip next chapter so Bog can get into the more difficult techniques including weapon work (in Griselda's words, finally! She should be making an appearance too shortly)


	5. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Griselda pokes her nose in and Marianne gives Bog some advice.

"So how was your first aikido class?"

"Good aye, we-"

"Meet any pretty women?"

"Mother!" Bog had only just walked through the front door and, although he had come to expect such questions, this was a new record for her.

"Well, did you?" Griselda pressed.

Bog rolled his eyes, "No. Well, yes. But not like tha'. Th' class was tiny anyway, there were only two women, an' one's already with someone," Bog pondered this for a second, so sure that what he'd seen on Sunny's face when he looked at Dawn had been love. But then again what did he know about love? "I think."

He flopped down on the sofa and was promptly joined by Griselda. "And the other?"

Bog threw his hands in the air in frustration, "I'm not interested in datin', mum."

" _I'm_ interested in you dating."

This comment earnt a very annoyed stare from her son, but Griselda just smiled fondly and pinched his cheek, "Oh, just imagine when you're married-"

"- _if_ -" Bog said through gritted teeth, pulling away.

Griselda carried on regardless, her arms flying everywhere as she spoke, "-and when you have kids of your own-"

"-again, _if_ -"

She leant against him, "-it'll be perfect!"

"It _might_ be per-" Bog growled angrily, now raising his voice, "Just forget it mum, seriously!"

Griselda fell silent and looked up at him, the sadness clear in her mud coloured eyes, before patting his knee and standing up. "I just want you to be happy, Bog," she whispered and left the room, leaving her son alone with his unspoken _I'm sorry, I know_ , because deep down he _did_ know. He knew that she was only trying to help him, to help him find what she'd found with his father. But sadly, Bog didn't think he ever would.

* * *

Come morning, the first thing Bog did was give his mother a hug. It was a hurried, clumsy, short hug, but a hug nonetheless.

And it was the highlight of Griselda's week.

Bog then took over breakfast duties and, without speaking, served cream topped waffles which Griselda had actually started making for him. But Bog didn't get his love of batter based breakfast foods off his father.

"Here," she said, pushing her half finished waffles in front of her son who had just sat down with dry toast.

"No mum, it's okay, I’ll be fine with-"

"Eat."

He sighed and pulled the plate further towards him. "Yes ma'am."

As Bog shoveled food into his mouth, Griselda took the opportunity to discuss certain plans she had made for her son. "So I did set you up for a date this afternoon, BUT," she put in before he tried to splutter out any complaints, "I _could_ cancel it, if you want me to do that."

Bog swallowed, "Tha'd be best thank-"

"Well, actually maybe just change the time of the date." Bog gave her a look, "Or the day, to next week." A tilt of the head, "Or next month." Now he raised his eyebrows, "And the location to Mars?" Bog nodded and went back to his shared breakfast. Griselda sighed, "You're ridiculous."

"Fanks," Bog mumbled though soggy clumps of criss-cross batter. "Afternoons _are_ off though," he said once he'd finished, "fer th' foreseeable future."

"Is this because of your new found interest in aikido?"

"What else would it be because of?"

Griselda frowned and nibbled on the toast Bog had abandoned. "I just don’t think you should be getting back into that sort of world."

"Mum, it's fine. This martial art protects th' other person, tha's why I decided ter take it up, ye know tha'. Aikido's great. She's great. An'-" Griselda grinned and Bog's eyes widened as he realised his mistake. "No! No," he pointed his fork at her, "tha's not what I-"

She carried on grinning, pinched a waffle quarter and ate it on the way back to her room. She had some prepping to do.

Bog allowed himself a few seconds to put his head in his hands and then shoved himself away from the table. "Mother!" He rapped on her now closed door, "Don't in'erfere. Please?"

"I won't!" Came the sing-song reply.

Bog rested his forehead on the door, "She's gonna in'erfere," he muttered to himself, knowing there's was nothing he could do now to deter her. 

* * *

A few weeks later, there was still no sign of Griselda meddling where she shouldn't.

Bog had kept his eyes open for the first few days, but after that he had got far too swept up in his new hobby - and Marianne - to concern himself with his mother's antics.

Day after day Marianne would hit him - literally - with new techniques to master, and each Friday, test him on them. She didn't offer him pity when he failed, that wasn't going to help. Instead she had him training even more rigorously and, on one occasion, one on one with her at the weekend.

"You need to focus Bog," Marianne told him for the thousandth time. "Keep your eyes on me, only a weak opponent lowers their gaze. And I know you're not weak."

Bog nodded slightly and followed her every movement as she walked around him, his right and her left arm never parting as they spun together.

Out of nowhere Marianne's right arm shot up, ready to hit her student on the side of the neck, but he blocked it with his own free arm. Turning it to better grasp her arm, he simultaneously brought his other hand up to hold her wrist and quickly guided her down, down, down to the floor, his stance widening as he did so.

With Marianne almost face down on the floor, Bog performed ikkajō, the first control, by kneeling down next to her, his knees positioned under her arm to stop her moving, and his hands placed directly above them.

"Bog," came her muffled voice.

"Yes?"

"While you're doing this anyway, twist my arm round so my hand is palm up on my back, thumb pointing up. You'll have to swivel your body around."

"Er, right." Bog finally figured it out and asked, "Now what?"

"Now, force my hand upwards by the elbow."

Bog hesitated, "Won't tha' hurt ye?"

"I'm used to it, don't worry about me. You need to know how to adequately prevent someone from getting up; this is how you do it. I'll tell you when to stop."

"Okay..." Bog did as his instructor asked, stopping when she patted the ground twice in quick succession. He then moved slowly away, his hands still holding her arm down and only once he couldn't possibly hold on any longer did he let go.

"Well," Marianne said jumping up, "that was pretty good. Though you do keep forgetting what I told you about training barehanded as if with a weapon and-"

"-Trainin' with a weapon as if barehanded. Yeah, I remember. But I still don't get what ye mean by tha'."

Marianne looked at him thoughtfully for a few seconds before nodding and walking over to grab her bokken. "Yokomen-uchi."

Following her orders, Bog went to hit her on the neck, but was stopped by Marianne, still holding the bokken in both hands. She then performed the same technique her student just had, except she didn't hold onto him, and she didn't let go of her weapon.

"You see," she said once she had him on the floor, "there's no need to hold onto the other person, let your momentum guide them down. Don't force them."

"Mmuh, an' what about trainin' with a weapon as if barehanded?" Bog asked, getting up.

"Same difference. You don't force your weapon, you're not cutting with it or hacking someone's head off. No, what you do is _slice_. Through skin, through muscle, through bone…" Bog paled but Marianne carried on regardless, "Ideally a yokomen-uchi will sever a person in half diagonally from the neck to the waist." She demonstrated with a lightning fast slash through the air. "And the weapon needs to do the work, not you."

"I ah, tha' makes," Bog cleared his throat, "Tha' makes sense. I guess."

The instructor sighed, "You still don't get it do you?"

"No, no, I do. It's just th' whole slicin' an’'decapitatin' stuff it…" Bog made a vague hand gesture, which didn't exactly help.

"Whatever, you'll get it soon enough. It took me three months to fully grasp the concept. Then again, I was about eight and kids pick stuff up quicker than adults." She shrugged, "You'll know when you know."

Bog rolled his eyes, "Tha's comfortin', an' not at all confusin'."

"You shush," Marianne retorted, playfully nudging his shoulder with her own. "Let's try some freestyle huh? I'll attack you with shōmen, yokomen, whatever - barehanded first, then with a weapon - and you have to respond to my attack."

Bog nodded slowly, mulling over the idea. "Usin' any technique I want?"

"Mmhum, but just deflecting and altering projection. No takedowns or we'll be here forever. You up for it?"

"Sure, let’s do this."

What followed was so fast-paced, the two were but a blur of black and white, with the occasional chestnut shine of Marianne's hair. She would come at Bog, each time from a different angle, and he would in turn direct her along a different course. Most times she would roll and turn as she did so her back never to him for more than a second and his eyes followed her every move. And then she was back for more, relentlessly pushing him to his limits.

Even though Bog only knew the most basic of techniques, he knew them well thanks to his jiu jitsu experience. It was this knowledge of a different martial art which allowed him to develop skills in aikido much quicker than others who didn't posses said knowledge.

"You're doing pretty good," Marianne complimented him about three minutes in, as they stopped for a few seconds so she could grab her weapon, "Ready to up the danger level?"

"Ye know I am, Tough Girl."

And they were off again, a deadly flash of ebony joining the mix. Bog ducked a lot more; choosing, rightfully so, to deflect her arm rather than her bokken which would have left bruises. Grabbing onto her sleeves, he dropped onto one knee, pulling her with him, and allowed her own momentum to roll her sideways. But she was up again in a flash, her amber eyes glinting in the harsh light of the dojo and her eyebrows drawn tight in concentration.

That was when Bog let his focus slip for a few milliseconds and so when he saw the sword swing at him, he did the first thing that came to mind. He ducked under the blade - and Marianne's arm - grabbed her legs, hooked his foot around her own, and pulled both it and her knees towards him. The result was a very confused instructor lying on her back with her weapon thrown halfway across the room, resting next to Bog's feet who had sprung back against the wall when he realised what he'd done.

Bog was frozen in horror, his eyes wide and his mouth open. This was it. She was going to expel him from her class. Why did his jiu jitsu instincts have to kick in now?

"Bog?"

And just like that, the spell broke and the words came tumbling out of his mouth. "Shit, I'm so sorry Marianne, I ne'er mean ter, oh God," he screwed up his eyes and waited for the hammer to fall. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry, I'm…"

"For what? That was awesome!"

"Yer gonna- What?" Bog opened his eyes and reverted back to his shell-shocked state.

"I said that was awesome!" Marianne exclaimed, getting up and walking across to Bog. "That's the first time someone's taken me by surprise like that in a long time. Can you show me again? What was that? Oh wait…" She hung back, "That was a jiu jitsu thing, right?"

Bog shuffled his feet, "Ah, yeah…"

"Never mind then, you don't have to show me again." She backed up some more to give him space, "Not if if makes you uncomfortable."

Bog could see how much martial arts meant to Marianne and how amazed she'd been by his takedown, not offended at all. So unlike _Her_ that he wondered if maybe, just maybe, he wasn't such a bad person after all. That his past mistakes didn't define him. "I ah, I guess I could show yer. If ye want ter of course."

Her face lit up instantly as she grinned from ear to ear, "You don't mind? Honest?"

"Honest." Bog said, and he couldn't help smiling back. 

* * *

When Bog strolled through the front door whistling an old song his father used to sing to him, Griselda chuckled to herself, "Eventful day?" she asked as he walked past her.

"Hmm? Oh yeah," Bog started to whistle again but stopped abruptly and turned back round to face his mother. "I'm, ah, makin' progress with the whole, ye know, jiu jitsu thing."

Griselda grasped his arms, "Really?" He nodded. "Oh Bog, that’s wonderful news! Is it that girl that's helping you?"

"Mother…"

"Well is it?"

Bog sighed, "Aye, it is."

A high pitched squealed filled the air and the tall man was somehow completely enveloped in his mother's embrace, "That's even better!"

"Ye know mum," Bog started as she let him go, her renewed interest in his love life reminding him, "I'm thankful yer didn't meddle or anythin', but it doesn't seem like ye at all. Unless yoo've still got somethin' planned," he finished warily.

Griselda laughed, "Who says I _didn't_ meddle?"

Bog frowned and looked at her, "What do ye mean? Ye did? I don't-"

"I meddled by supporting you with this aikido thing." She nudged his arm, "I told you you just needed to get out more."

"Hrump," Bog settled down onto the sofa and turned his attention to the tv.

A full minute passed before Griselda piped up again, "So, when are you going to invite her over for tea?"

"Mother!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait, again. Just couldn't summon the inspiration to write, and when I did, shit just went wrong (boiler broke, electricity got cut out, I hurt my back, just loads of shit). But anyway it's here now ^-^ Oh and the song Bog's whistling near the end is Wild Mountain Thyme by Francis McPeake, a lovely folk song originating from Scotland that just has to be in this fic (and will be again with the actual lyrics, but not for a while)


End file.
